Saving Grace
by his-own-cumbercollective
Summary: Sam has just started college, and ends up getting to know the Latin professor, Gabriel Shurley, rather intimately. After a few months of flirting, they both begin to develop feelings for each other and must figure out what to do with them. Eventually, Sam confronts Gabriel, forcing them to figure out... well... everything.
1. Chapter 1

Given the recent addition of Sabriel content, I decided to write a fic. The world always needs more Sabriel. Part credit to one of my friends for most of the plot points and editing! I really appreciate reviews. Let me know what you want to see! I'll be slow to update so please stick with me.

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For two years, I have been preparing for college. Taking all the right modules, studying to the point of having no social life, and choosing the right college. But in the stress of it all, I lost sight of how quickly the first term was coming around. Now, I'm sitting in my new dorm, things unpacked, and I have no idea where the time has gone.

I wander over to the window to soak in my view for the next year. I can see the quad which has a few large oak trees lining it, which would provide good shade from the sun. The quad is surrounded by the main faculty buildings, including the library. I spent most of high school finding sanctuary in the library, and I get the feeling that pattern will repeat itself. I've never really been a natural at making friends. It's usually easier just to keep myself to myself. Keep my head down and work hard.

After an hour or so of putting it off, I decide to make my way into the communal area and meet my new flatmates. As I enter the room, I see a girl with long blonde hair sitting in the arm chair with her back to me. She's looking at her phone so doesn't seem to hear me walk in. I walk round the side of the arm chair and lean down slightly to the side so she can see me.

"Hey, I'm Sam. I believe we're flatmates for the year."

She looked up from her phone and smiled at me.

"Hi Sam! I'm Ruby. It's great to meet you. Have you only just arrived?" She looked at me with a soft smile on her lips.

"I got here about two hours ago. I've been moving all my stuff into my room, getting it right and all that. How long have you been here?"

"I arrived yesterday. Early move in. My parents went to Europe today so we had to move my stuff yesterday. How do you feel on your first day? Ever lived away from home?" She asked inquisitively, her smile beaming at me.

"Umm… I haven't lived away from home, but my family has moved around a bit." I moved over to the sofa next to her and sat down. Given the price of college, I had hoped the furniture would be more comfortable.

"So what modules are you taking this term, Sam?" She said, running her fingers through her hair.

"I have no idea, to be honest. I'm pre-law so it'll have to be geared towards that, but I don't know. How about you?"

Ruby smiled. "I'm doing journalism, so mostly writing-based. I tell you what, all the professors have taster sessions this week so you can try out their course before you make your choice. Why don't we try a few out? I already have mine chosen, but I don't mind coming with you to see what they're like."

It seemed a little odd that Ruby would want to come to taster sessions with me for modules completely unrelated to her course, but if it was how I was going to make my first friend then I was going to go with it. And to be honest, it would be nice to know someone in the room.

We first tried out the class run by a professor Clayton about property law, but it quickly became apparent to me that property law is just as dull as it sounds. I looked at Ruby as we left the class. I'm sure I could see some sleep appearing in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea it was possible for one man to make half an hour seem like an eternity."

Ruby looked over at me with a deadpan expression, and then burst into laughter. "This is the course you want to take? Are you serious? This will be your life for the next few years!"

I considered defending my choice in course, but realised it was probably pointless. "Look, there's a Latin taster in an hour. Whatever modules I choose, this one will be really helpful. And hey, no one can be more boring than that guy!"

Ruby looked up at me through her upper lashes. It felt as though her stare was going to burn though my head.

"Seriously? Watching grass grow would be more exciting. I'm amazed I didn't actually fall asleep in there."

Ruby's comment made me chuckle. She wasn't wrong. The guy seemed to have a talent for making every sentence sound incredibly dull.

"You don't have to stick around if you don't want to. I realise these classes probably won't interest you. Why don't you go back to the flat and we can meet up later?"

Ruby's face dropped ever so slightly. Maybe I misjudged her interest in law. No, that couldn't be right. She practically heckled the last guy. Someone interested in a topic doesn't make fun of the professor.

"I've not exactly got anything better to be doing. Anyway, I have a whole 24 hours over you on knowing where to go. I can show you where the next class is. Ruby looked up at me with wide eyes and that soft smile she used when we met.

"Well, I'm not going to object to that."

This seemed to be the right thing to say as Ruby was now smiling from ear to ear.

"Do you fancy grabbing a coffee before the next class? There's a little coffee shop by the quad which serves the best coffee I've ever tasted."

"Sounds like a plan." Quite frankly, I needed the caffeine after that.

We wandered slowly towards the coffee shop discussing each other's coffee orders. Ruby preferred soy milk, and all the added shots, and cinnamon, and everything else you could think of, and seemed almost offended at my choice of a simple cappuccino with no extras.

Once we had our drinks, we sat down at a table in the corner by the windows so that we could watch all the people walk by. It was only the first day of term, but the campus was already buzzing with activity and life.

I looked across to Ruby sipping at drink. "Would you like some coffee with those shots?"

This made Ruby giggle under breath. "I still think you're missing out. You could not have chosen a more boring order. Hey, maybe you would enjoy professor Clayton's class after all! Two peas in pod."

"You can't talk. You came in for a coffee and got a cup full of sugar!" I laughed a little at my own joke, then turned my head slightly to look out of the window at the passers-by.

Ruby took a long sip from her cup. "Ahh, the sugary goodness." She smiled to herself and then looked over at me. "I noticed another guy wandering in and out as you were moving your stuff in."

"Oh yeah, that's my brother, Dean. He's leaving on a road trip tomorrow so he offered to help me move in as he won't be by in a while. He travels for work."

"That's so cool. I've always wanted to travel but I've never had the opportunity. My parents would never take me with them on their trips, even during the summer. Instead, they would hire a nanny so I could go to summer classes."

"I wish I could have stayed at home in the summer. I was dragged from motel to motel against my will." I always feel a lump creeping up in my throat when I think about the way I grew up. I know that my dad always did his best for my brother and me, but I always wondered what it would have been like to live like a regular family. Not constantly on the road. "Where is home for you?"

"Austin. But I grew up in New York. My Dad's company transferred him to Texas to manage this branch of the company. I can't say I don't miss New York. There was so much going on. Nowhere else it quite the same." She pursed her lips together then looked away from me out of the window. "Anyway, tell me more about you, your family. You mentioned your brother… Dean, was it?"

"Yeah, Dean. He's a few years older than me. He's the stereotypical protective older brother. Always looked out for me when I was young. He still does, really. My mom... er…" I coughed away the block in my throat to get the next bit out quickly. "My mom died when I was a baby, so it's just been my dad, Dean and me ever since. My dad had to travel a lot for work, and with no one else to look after us, we had to go with him. He was busy a lot so Dean looked after me most of the time." I half smiled at Ruby, hoping I'd given her enough information to move onto another topic.

I asked Ruby about her friends from home, and some of her favourite things to do, which she talked about passionately, and at length. From then on, the time flew by as we talked and watched the people walking past the window.

"So, college campus expert. Who is the next taster run by?"

Ruby giggled at the comment and then pulled the timetable out of her back pocket. "It's run by one Dr Shurley." Her eyes widened suddenly. "Crap. We gotta go! It's on the other side of campus." She looked at her phone for the time, then looked at me and bit her lip. "And it started two minutes ago.

We both burst into laughter before jumping to our feet and making a run for the door. I thought I'd follow Ruby seeing as she seemed to know where she was going, but before I had a chance to complete the thought, she took hold of my hand as we jogged across the quad.

We reached the door to the correct lecture hall and burst through the door. We immediately stopped as we realised the class had already started and our abrupt entrance put all the attention on us. There were around 30 pairs of staring eyes on us, including the professor's.

The professor was a relatively short guy (although I'm hardly one to judge another person's height) with floppy, sandy-coloured hair and hazel eyes. He raised his eyebrows as if to scold us, and then gestured towards a couple of empty seats right at the front of the class. Ruby and I glanced at each other, both with a slight smirk on our faces. This was the first time I had ever been the student to walk in late and disrupt the rest of the class. We sat in our seats and the professor continued.

"So, as I was saying, if you put the work in, this will not be a difficult module. I'll turn up and teach the lectures if you show up and listen to them. That's the deal." He took a moment to glance around the room to assess the reaction of the group. "To give you a chance to understand what sort of work you would be doing, we're going to do a little task. Each of you has a sheet in front of you. If you could turn to a person next to you who you don't know and complete it." There was an audible, collective groan around the room. "Oh, come on guys. Hardly any of you know each other anyway."

Ruby looked at me and rolled her eyes which made me laugh under my breath, and she reluctantly turned to the girl sitting on her other side. I glanced to my other side to realise there was no one there. A quick look round the room told me that there was no one else without a partner. I glanced at the professor who also glanced around the room, obviously realised my situation, then pushed himself from his leaning position on the desk to come and sit next to me.

He smiled at me and held out a hand to shake. "Hi there. I'm Professor Shurley. You are?" He took a sip from his take away coffee cup, which had a name scribbled across the side of it, which appeared to say "Gabriel".

"Err… Sam. My name's… Sam." There was a kind look about his eyes. They were more of a soft amber than the harsh hazel I had initially seen.

"Hi, Sam. So, if you take my class this year, can I expect that sort of entrance each time, or was that a one off?" He raised his eyebrows and continued staring at me as he took another sip of his coffee.

"Oh, no. I'm really sorry about that. I was having a coffee with my new friend, Ruby." I gestured to her sitting next to me. "We lost track of the time and ran here as soon as we realised." I felt my heart rate increase ever so slightly. I hadn't anticipated being late, let alone being subjected to the third degree because of it.

He chuckled slightly. "Don't worry about it, I'm just yanking your chain. It's your first day here, I'm guessing?" I nodded in response. "It's a big campus. After 5 years I still don't really know my way around." My heart rate dropped right down at this point. It was a relief to know I hadn't made a bad reputation for myself amongst the professors on my very first day. "It's good to meet you, Sam. So, what do you think the chances are that you'll be taking Latin this year?"

I couldn't help but watch his lips as he spoke. They looked soft, and gentle. I was hanging on each of his words more than I realised, as I took a moment longer to respond than normal. "Strong. Very… strong." I quickly added "I'm pre-law. I figure this will help me with the rest of my degree."

He nodded along in understanding. "Have you ever studied Latin before?".

I felt myself stop breathing momentarily, eyes widening the tiniest amount, unsure how to answer the question. "Ummm, yeah, a little. My dad knows some, and I've kinda picked it up off him over the years." I moved my gaze away from the professor then glanced around the room, trying to avoid eye contact, hoping he wouldn't ask another potentially probing question.

I could feel his gaze on the side of my face as I stared at the desk at the front of the room. I then slowly moved my gaze back towards the professor, but maintained a low eye level, focusing on the coffee cup he had clasped between both hands.

After a moment, I ventured my gaze back up to his eyes to find he was still looking into mine. Our eyes locked onto each other's. A moment passed where neither of us spoke. Normally, I would comment that this made for an awkward few seconds, but in this case, it didn't feel like empty silence.

I used this time to really take in the man's face. His floppy sand-coloured hair was pushed back from his face – effortless and perfect at the same time. He had hints of stubble surrounding his mouth, giving him an almost dishevelled look, but still looked clean and smart. From what I could tell, he was in his late twenties to early thirties – you for a professor – but he seemed a little older. I couldn't tell if it was the beard, something in his eyes, the way he held himself, but something was ageing him. He was wearing a pair of dark brown round glasses which only accentuated the colour of his eyes, making them look even bigger than they could possibly be.

He suddenly took a breath in and said "I suppose we should take a look at the task." as he looked down at the piece of paper in front of me, breaking the eye contact I wished could have lasted a little longer.

We spent the next ten minutes or so discussing the exercise, not really looking at each other. I tried to focus on the work, but part of me was completely distracted.

A short while later, once we had exhausted the topic at hand, he stood up and called the room to attention. He asked for volunteers to throw around ideas about the task, and then followed up by explaining its purpose and how it reflected what the course would consist of. He talked so passionately about his subject, making me genuinely believe that no other module would even be necessary.

He drew to a conclusion and thanked everyone for coming along, and the class responded with a small round of applause before grabbing their papers and making for the door.

Ruby leaned over her desk and into my side. "Teacher's pet already, huh? It's not even the first class yet." She giggled to herself as we both stood up from our seats. I heard what she said, and I even took it in, but quite frankly, I wasn't that interested in listening right now. "Wanna head back to the apartment? We have ages before that next taster session you wanted to go to. International Law this time, right?" Ruby continued to talk, but in my head, it got quieter and quieter, until I could hardly hear her at all.

The professor was standing by the door, thanking everyone for coming and wishing them a good rest of the day. I made our way over, Ruby staying glued to my side, and my heart rate increased as we got ever closer to the door. He looked up from the student in front of us and his eyes hit mine.

Like me, he stayed still momentarily before almost jumping to action. "Ah, Sam. Do you want to come and grab that book we mentioned earlier? It's in my office just down the hall."

"Yeah, definitely." I dropped my gaze to my shoes as I realised I may have sounded a little eager in response.

"Sam? I thought we were going back to the apartment?" Ruby looked up at me as she tapped my arm. She seemed a little annoyed but I'd already had the conversation with the professor about a book that discussed the origins of European languages in Latin. I realised it would be a little rude to go back on my plan with Ruby, but part of me really wanted to drag out the interaction with the professor, and he had given me the perfect reason to.

"Oh, um. Yeah, you go, I'll meet you back there." I nodded and gave her a smile. She stared at me, brow furrowed, before turning on her heels and making her way out of the door and down the hall.

I turned my gaze back to the professor who had the smallest of smirks on his face. "Looks like someone has a crush." He raised his eyebrows as he said it in a playful manner.

"Who? Ruby? She's just a friend. I only actually met her today. I hardly know her." I wasn't sure why I was blurting all this out, but it was too late now. I'd already said it.

"I wasn't talking about you." He smirked again. "Come with me. Let's go find that book."

He held the door behind him, allowing me to walk through first. We continued to discuss Latin roots as we walked down the halls of the old building. I enjoyed talking about the topic with him. He obviously knew what he was talking about, and actually cared about teaching others, unlike some professors who were only in their job as a last resort. He talked passionately, and with enthusiasm which I couldn't help but smile at. It was endearing.

We reached his office and he fumbled around in his bag looking for a set of keys. "Sorry. Can't seem to keep a track of anything at the moment." He huffed out a long breath as he continued to search. "Success." His tone didn't match his words, however. He seemed frustrated with himself.

He managed to open the door and made his way towards the desk which had multiple stacks of books on it. In fact, as I peered round the door, I could see many stacks of books everywhere, anywhere there was floor space.

He skimmed through the piles of books, trying and failing for a while until he looked up at me and stared for a moment before saying "Don't just stand in the door. Take a seat or something. This may take a while. Like I said, no idea where anything is right now." He went back to looking.

I couldn't help but let my mouth gape open at the sheer number of books he had on shelves and in stacks. It was like his own personal library. "It must have taken years for you to collect all of these."

He sidled up next to me, following my line of sight as I stared round the room. "Like what you see?" I could just about see him looking into the side of my face through my peripheral vision. He had the same smirk on his face that I'd seen earlier in his class.

I let out a breath with a smile. "You can say that again."

His face softened slightly. "You know, you can always borrow any books you want. They're meant to be read, after all." He turned his head, then wandered towards the book case in front of us, stretching out his arm to grab a particular book. He handled it gently, opening the front cover to glance at the first page.

"Here." He handed it towards me, arm out stretched. "Take it for as long as you like. It's become somewhat of a museum piece in here now. I don't read many of them at all nowadays." His voice sounded empty, like there was a lack of emotion.

I pushed my arm out to take the book from him. I grasped the same side of the book as he was holding, stretching slightly more than I intended, and folded my hand around a few of his outstretched fingers. For some reason, I froze, not letting go of the book or his hand. It was so soft, and small in my own hand. I looked to his face to see he was staring at our hands, then up at my face.

I felt as though my heart was in my mouth. My heart beat was increasing to the point I thought it might break a rib. I could feel my cheeks flushing, probably going a bright shade of pink. I suddenly released my grip on his hand. "Oh, my God… I'm sorry. I… I wasn't… looking" It felt as though words were just tumbling out of my mouth.

He closed his eyes, a faint smile on his face and shook his head gently. "Don't worry about it, Sam." He stared directly into my eyes for a long moment. "After all, it's the most action I've got in months." A grin spread across his face and he chuckled at his own joke under his breath.

I could feel my heart slow down. I took a moment to let my thoughts slow down. I then tried again to grab the book without taking his hand with it, paying more attention this time. "Thanks… for the book, that is." I couldn't bear to look into his eyes at that moment. "I better head back to my apartment. I said I'd go to a few more taster sessions with Ruby."

"Sure thing. Don't let me hold you up." The professor made his way around the back of his desk and pulled out the chair to take a seat. "I look forward to seeing you in my class this semester, Sam."

I'd already turned towards the door but stopped in my tracks to turn back and look at him. "I look forward to taking your class, professor."

He let out another laugh. "Please, Sam. Call me Gabriel. I sound old when you call me professor."

I mumbled his name under my breath. Gabriel. So, his coffee cup was right. I expected it to be a joke. I'd never met someone with that name before. I only knew it because of the angel Gabriel. Maybe his family was religious. Gabriel. I liked the name. It fell off my tongue so easily.

"Ok… Gabriel." I furrowed my brow after I said it. This was going to take some getting used to. I had always been so used to having a more formal relationship with teachers and professors.

I turned back to the door and made my way back up the hall. Gabriel. Damn, he was attractive. There was something about his unshaven look, and the soft eyes that seemed to look straight into me. Gabriel.

I was only four hours into my first day at college, and I could already tell this was going to be a good year. However, I was now looking forward to my Latin classes more than any of the compulsory law classes. Perhaps this was because it was a class I had chosen for fun. Perhaps it had something to do with a certain Latin professor.

Gabriel…


	2. Chapter 2

I'm sorry for the long delay in updating. No excuse, I'm just trash. I fully intend to finish this story so please stick with me through the long breaks!

I had a problem with uploading this chapter so there may be some spelling issues, but I'll edit it at a later date if there are!

Big thanks to my amazing friend for editing and basically all plot points.

Feedback is everything so please let me know what you think.

And most importantly, enjoy!

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The first week of college passed by in a blur. Ruby and I went to many more taster sessions, but I got the impression she was getting steadily more bored with each one. I tried to tell her I didn't mind if she wanted to go and do something else, but she was pretty insistent on sticking around. We also got to know the bar and club on campus very well. It was the best way to meet other first years before classes started properly. Ruby and I realised pretty quickly that our two other flatmates would not be socialising much this year, so decided we'd have to make our own fun.

By the end of the week, we were regularly meeting up with the same group. We first met Chuck. He's pretty quiet, and always seems a little on edge, but we managed to draw him out of his shell after a few shots. Then there was Charlie. She has fiery red hair which matched her personality - she isn't loud, but she'll let you know her opinion on something with no hesitation.

Finally, we met a third year. He was sitting at the bar when we came across him. He was just trying to have a quiet drink but forgot that all the first years had just moved in and would be invading the bar. Naturally, we dragged him along to the club with us. On the way, he introduced himself to us as Cas, which I repeated to myself a few times to give myself a chance at remembering it. He was in his final year before graduating with a degree in English literature. That was about all we got to learn of him before we hit the club, and at that point, it doesn't really matter what you major in or how many siblings you have. You just want to drink, dance and sing – very, very badly.

Monday rolled around soon enough, and we had to remind ourselves that partying was not our main reason for being at college. Well, for everyone except Charlie perhaps. She didn't seem too invested in her course, but it was obvious from just one week that with her IQ she was going to do better than the rest of us put together.

As it was the first week of the year, most of the professors took the opportunity to tell us all what they expected from us - as if teachers in high school had never done this before. I was ready to start learning. I'd spent so many years working towards college that I was starting to get a little impatient. However, this was not the case in the first Latin class of the year.

I'd spent the last nine days - and yes, I was counting - waiting to start this class properly. Every day, I dedicated an hour to reading through the book that Gabriel... still feels weird saying that... had let me borrow. I wanted to make sure he understood that I was genuinely invested in this course and that I was willing to put the time and effort in.

I was striding with purpose across the quad yet again, heading to the lecture halls. Once I entered the building, I felt my heart rate start to climb. It continued to get faster as I got closer and closer to the correct room. I stopped in front of the door for a split second to take a breath and attempted to calm my heartbeat. No luck. I pulled the door open gently and made my way in.

The room was empty. I spun on my heels, glancing at all the chairs as I did so. Definitely empty. I checked my watch and realised there was still twenty minutes to go until class started. I decided to take a seat and make a start on the final chapter of the book. I always forget how fast time can pass by when I get lost in a book. Before I knew it, I was interrupted from my reading by a soft, slightly mocking voice which made my head shoot up from the page.

"You know, when I asked about your loud arrival to class, I wasn't suggesting you needed to beat everyone here." He smirked at his own joke. "How you doing, Sam? Made any progress with that book?" He continued on his path towards the desk, pulling his bag from his side and dropping it on top of the desk. He emptied his jacket pockets of his glasses and phone, and draped it over the chair, then looked up at me awaiting a response.

"Oh, uh... yeah, I'm just starting the last chapter. I'll bring it back tomorrow." I didn't want him to think I was taking his generosity for granted. I dug my head back into the book, eagerly reading away, but I could tell he was still looking at me.

"I don't think you're going to steal it if that's what you're worrying about. You got to relax a bit. Loosen up." He smirked at me once again as he mumbled, subtly stretching out his limbs. He then turned his focus to his bag, flipping through what must be a pile of textbooks and papers. Once he found what he was looking for, he wandered over towards me and took a seat next to me.

Once he'd sat down, he swivelled so that he was looking directly at me. His face couldn't have been much more than a foot away from mine. He held a book out so that it blocked my view of the book I was currently reading. "If you like that, you'll go nuts over this one." I took note of the title then turned my head up sideways to smile at him in appreciation. The corner of his mouth creased up into a smile.

I couldn't help but notice his eyes again. It was so easy to get lost in them. They were so soft and deep, I knew I could happily spend a day looking into them. I snapped myself out of that thought process and took the book from him, careful again not to grab his hand with it. "This is really nice of you - all the books. You don't have to do it, you know."

His brow dropped and he faked a frown. "Am I going to have to spend this whole year telling you to chill out? Sam, I told you that you could borrow my books. It's refreshing to see someone so interested in learning something... anything." He'd turned back to face the front of the room. "You seem like you could have real potential to ace the class, and I just want to make sure I give you that chance."

I felt bad at this point. Had I been throwing his generosity back in his face? "Right. I'm sorry, I do really appreciate it." I fiddled with the ends of my fingers. "I'm just... really not used to teachers being so... personal."

He let out a breath with a smile. "Well, maybe I have taken a slight shine to a particular student. Doesn't mean we can't have a professional relationship though. I just don't have any time for the clinical approach. I like to get to know my students. Like you said, make it personal. It tends to bring the best out of them."

I looked back down at my hands where I was slowly picking away at the skin. Did that mean he was like this with everyone? Had I been picking up on a signal that wasn't actually there?

We spent the next ten minutes discussing the book I had already borrowed, ending up in quite a strong debate. It was nice to have an intellectual debate with someone who cared so passionately about a topic, as opposed to debating with Dean who drank the last beer and should therefore go out to buy more.

Before I knew it, the rest of the class started to file in and take their seats. Gabriel returned to the desk at the front of the room, welcoming people as they arrived. Once it seemed as though everyone had sat down, he started asking everyone their current knowledge of Latin. When he had established that most people were here because they had to be, he gave a brief description of what we would be learning over the next few months and jumped straight into the first class.

It became quickly apparent to not only Gabriel but also myself that there would not be much of a discussion in this class. It seemed most people only turned up in order to get a grade and were not at all interested in Latin.

During the class, I hardly made any notes. Usually, my eyes barely leave the page I'm writing on due to the sheer volume of notes I make, but in this class, I couldn't seem to take my eyes off the professor. He got so animated when talking about his chosen subject. Whereas outside of class he seems a little more distracted, as though something is on his mind.

Once the class was over, everyone else filed out of the room, Gabriel thanking them as they did. He then returned to the desk where we continued the discussion that had just taken place. He gathered together his items while we spoke, and then made for then door, both of us automatically continuing the conversation as we walked to his office.

Without even discussing it, we carried on into his office where we stayed talking for nearly an hour. Before our conversation could come to a natural conclusion, Gabriel had to head off to his next class. If I'm not mistaken, he seemed a little reluctant to go.

The next month passed by in much the same way. We would spend half an hour before class discussing whichever book I was borrowing of his at the time, and then we would go back to his office and continue to discuss the topic of that day's lesson. It became a routine. One that I was not inclined to break.

However, after a month, Gabriel strayed, taking me off guard. As usual, the class had finished and we were making our own way out of the room when he stopped in his tracks. I turned back slightly to look at him, raising my eyebrows slightly and asked "You OK?"

He stared back at me for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah... I was just wondering if you'd maybe like to... go grab a coffee? We always seem to sit in my dingy, depressing office. It could make for a nice change of scenery." He let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck, then looked back up at me through his upper lashes. In over a month I'd not seen him anything less than confident in himself so this was new to me.

I smiled back at him. "Sounds like a plan to me."

The next ten minutes as we walked to the campus coffee shop and queued for our drinks were a little awkward. We didn't say much to each other. Every now and again, each of us would take a sideways glance at the other, and curl the sides of our mouths up in a small smile, before staring back ahead of us.

At long last, we sat down with our drinks. Gabriel steered us towards a table in the middle of the room. Not my preferred, as I can't watch people walking by should the conversation run dry. Although I was hoping that wouldn't be necessary with this conversation.

The first thing Gabriel did once he had sat down was pull up one of his feet to sit on it, making him sit slightly higher in his seat. I watched in fascination over the top of my cup, chuckling slightly as I took a sip.

"Are you trying to compensate for something or...?" I looked at him through squinted eyes then smirked, glad that I wasn't on the receiving end of a joke between us for once.

Gabriel looked confused, then looked down at his foot and realisation struck. "Oh, yeah. Have a go at the short guy. Just cause some of us aren't built like a house." He smiled back at me. "You know, you shouldn't make fun of the vertically challenged." He took a sip of his coffee, then tore open some sweeteners and mixed them in. "How are you finding your course so far?"

"Uh, well, it's challenging, but I did make my own choices over my modules. I do take this one module, in Latin actually, and the professor is... interesting."

Gabriel stared at me, somewhat blankly, then raised one eyebrow just a touch with a mischievous smirk. "Interesting? Surely, you've learned in your month at college that ambiguity is a nasty habit. No professor likes a vague answer. I give that answer an F. Your first ever, I'm guessing?" He struggled to hide his amusement at his own joke.

If it weren't for his grin, I'd have been able to hide my own, but there's something about the way his face lights up when he laughs that makes me smile.

I wanted to respond and prove him wrong, but I simply couldn't, so instead, in an amazingly attractive manner, I choked on my words.

He squinted at me as if trying to work something out, and then his eyes suddenly widened. "I'm right, aren't I? You've never failed a paper! Just when I thought I was getting to know you, you throw in a curve ball. You're a nerd."

I couldn't help but sigh under my breath at that accusation. I'd spent the last fifteen years being called a nerd by my brother, and now it looked like I hadn't escaped it after all. I turned my head, wanting to look out of the window, but was quickly reminded that we were in fact sitting in the middle of the shop, so I turned my head back to my coffee.

"Moving quickly on." I looked towards his eyes to see that his smile had dropped, and he was now staring at me with a knowing look. Gabriel continued. "We've discussed just about every possible topic to do with Latin. Why don't we branch out for once?"

The sudden change of topic made me instantly more comfortable.

"You're obviously one of those rare students who does some work outside of class. What do you do when someone can tear you away from your desk?"

"You make it sound as though I'm a workaholic." I stifled a laugh. He raised an eyebrow at me, coaxing me into relenting. "Fine, I work more than most. But if I'm going to do a degree, I may as well work hard for it."

"I don't disagree with you, but just make sure you don't waste any opportunities. You may not get to do the whole college thing again." I could see in his eyes that what he had said was not just directed at me.

"Trust me, I have no intention of wasting any opportunity that comes my way." For a brief moment, our eyes locked onto each other's. I could feel the intensity rising up through my chest, quickly approaching my throat, before I made myself tear my gaze away, back to my coffee once again. "My brother is actually dropping by tomorrow for the weekend. I'm sure I'll get roped into some sort of social event with him on the scene."

"He must be the sociable one then."

"If I'm so unsociable, what am I doing right now?"

He smiled at me, looking semi-defeated. "This must just be a one off. Because I asked so nicely. I mean, how could you possibly resist?" It was as though he'd hit the nail on the head. Even if I had wanted to say no to joining him for coffee, I would have struggled. There was something in the way he stared into my eyes that, as he said, I couldn't resist. I started to worry that maybe my thoughts were more obvious than I'd previously hoped.

All I could muster in response was a nervous chuckle. God, I wished we were sitting by the window.

He must have taken pity on me as he decided to change the topic. "So, you've got a brother, who else?"

One of the few things I was not enjoying about college so far was that in getting to know people, they always asked about my family – a topic that I try to avoid where I can. "My dad travels a lot, so I don't see a lot of him, especially now I'm at college. And that's it."

Gabriel stared back at me, eyebrows furrowed. "That's it? Two? You have two people in your life?" Eyebrows still furrowed. "Two?" A chuckle crept out of my mouth in response to his reaction. "I'd donate a lung to only have two family members. Two?"

I laughed again, harder this time. "Yes. Two. I've not been blessed in that area. My uh, my mom died in a fire when I was a baby. We've been on the road ever since. I never really had the chance to have family."

"Damn." For the first time since meeting him, Gabriel looked lost for words. He stared at the table for a moment, mouth wide, trying to form his next word, but falling short. "That… sucks."

"Yeah. You can say that again. So, you have a bigger family than me, then?" I realised the best thing to do to help Gabriel out here was to give him something specific to talk about.

He snapped back into concentration. "Mom, dad, and four brothers. Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, Balthazar, and then me."

This time, I was the one staring, mouth open, and speechless. "You must be kidding me. Your parents named their son Lucifer?"

"Yep. Some might call it foreshadowing. Let's just say he's strayed from God's path." With that, we both burst into a fit of giggles.

"Your parents are religious then?"

"That's an understatement. Have you heard of the phrase 'religious nut'?" He stared at me with contempt in his eyes. "That's them. It never really rubbed off on any of us, though. Tell me Sam, have you found Jesus?" That usual Gabriel smirk crept up the side of his cheeks. Every time he smirked, I couldn't help but smile back at him. It was infectious. It made me happy, content, on a deep level.

At that moment, my phone buzzed in my pocket and chimed out which made me jump slightly. I smiled up at Gabriel as I reached down to slide my phone out of my pocket and unlock it. It was a text from Ruby.

 _So, the rest of us have decided that we have to meet your brother, so we're all going to the bar tonight, and you're coming._

 _P.S. This isn't me asking, this it me telling you._

I couldn't help but smile at my phone. Ruby seemed to have a knack for making me laugh, especially at moments when I shouldn't be. We would sometimes descend into childlike behaviour when together. I locked the phone as a thought suddenly occurred to me. I lifted my head up to Gabriel and stared at him for a moment as I thought, considering my decision. I was about to speak when he beat me to it.

"Must have been a hell of a message to make you smile like that." He said as he nodded towards the phone. I followed his gaze and realised I had completely ignored him to check my messages.

"You could say that. Look, a bunch of us are meeting up at the bar tomorrow night. Just a casual drink so my friends can interrogate my brother, no doubt. You should come." I wasn't totally aware I was going to say this until it had left my lips, but I was hopeful nonetheless. I sipped from my drink, looking up at him over the cup. I knew it probably sounded desperate, and it seemed to come from nowhere, but it just felt right.

"You can't be serious. You want me to join you and your friends for drinks?

"Well, why not? The only differences between what we're doing now and that are the time of day and the alcohol content of the drinks. But it's your choice." I knew, of course, the implications of Gabriel meeting my friends and me for drinks at the campus bar, but they weren't much different to being seen in the coffee shop together. A large part of me now wanted him to relent and agree to come along.

He stared at me for a long moment, a very long moment, with that typical Gabriel smirk plastered over his face, before taking a long breath in, and lifting his head slightly. "Sure. What could possibly go wrong?"

The rest of the afternoon passed by quite pleasantly. I had to hurry out of the coffee shop from meeting with Gabriel as Dean had arrived at my flat, but not before swapping numbers. Time seemed to pass by so quickly when we talked. It was just so easy.

It didn't take too long before Dean and I found ourselves in the bar, along with Ruby, Chuck, and Charlie. They had all turned out to meet Dean. Why exactly, I couldn't be sure.

I glanced around the group a couple of times but couldn't find what I was looking for. "Hey, Ruby. Do you know where Cas is? Didn't you say he was coming?"

"He is. He must have just got held up. He was just as eager as the rest of us to meet…" She looked over at Dean, who was staring back at her. "…up with the group…" She trailed off.

I could feel the corners of my mouth sliding up. "Subtle." I mocked, raising my eyebrows and sent a friendly wink in her direction.

She stuck her tongue out at me with her eyes scrunched up – a result of the amount of alcohol she had already drunk, I'm sure. "Once Cas gets here, we should totally go to the club!" I noticed Ruby was slowly raising her voice further and further, even though the volume in the bar wasn't changing. At this point, I realised that it would be a heavy night that I wasn't going to get out of.

I cleared my throat before responding. "We're actually waiting for someone else as well." This caught the attention of the whole group.

"Woah, Sammy. Could you have finally made it into manhood and asked someone out?" Dean gripped my shoulder tightly before adding. "I think we need another round!"

Charlie jumped in. "So, who did you invite? This is all very mysterious. You never mentioned anything!"

As much as I had expected them to ask questions, I wasn't really prepared for it. "Just a friend." I took a large swig from my drink and glanced towards the door, hoping Gabriel would arrive soon so that I didn't get subjected to too many questions on my own. I began to think that maybe inviting him wasn't such a good idea.

Dean nudged into my side. "Oh, come on Sammy. You can give us more than that." Everyone's eyes were still glued to me.

I was extremely relieved when my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Gabriel.

 _Well, I'm outside the bar – if you're still sure you want me to join you._

I smiled down at the text. I considered responding, but it seemed pointless as he was standing right outside. It would be faster to go straight to him. I looked back up to the group. "I'll be right back, he's just outside."

As I walked to the door, I could hear them muttering to each other, repeating one word: 'he'.

I rounded the corner and immediately spotted Gabriel, leaning up against a pillar not far from the door. I walked straight over to him, struggling to tame the grin beaming across my face. Usually, I'd be embarrassed and give myself a few minutes to try and calm it down, but with Gabriel, I didn't mind him seeing that. Thankfully, once he spotted me, he smiled back.

"Someone's happy to see me." Just with that, the smirk appeared. That beautiful, glowing smirk that I couldn't help but smile at.

"I have to admit, I thought you weren't coming."

"I have to admit, I thought I wasn't either for a while there." He smiled up at me softly.

"What changed your mind?"

He turned his head, taking in what was around us, then looked back at me and said with a sigh, "Nothing that matters." I stored that one to ask about at a later date. Something was clearly wrong, but now was not the time to talk about it. Tonight was a chance to relax, have a few drinks, and have some fun, so I wasn't about to take that away from him.

"You ready?" I watched his face for any signs of hesitation, but none appeared. I knew I needed to relax a little. Perhaps going out for the night was exactly what I needed at this point.

We stood shoulder to shoulder – or should I say shoulder to elbow – staring at the door to the bar, both of us nervous about the night ahead. I was about to introduce my professor to my friends and brother in a bar – not exactly conventional.

"Like I said, what could possibly go wrong?"


End file.
